INSIDE THE DRESSING ROOM
By I.R. Popa
The next big names in fashion may not be on the catwalk during Fashion Week.
But aspiring designers have several options they can try if they want to be in the tents at Bryant Park someday with the likes of Diane von Furstenberg and Zac Posen.
The Dressing Room Boutique and Bar. (Photo by I.R. Popa)
Take, for example, the Dressing Room Boutique and Bar, a cooperative on the Lower East Side on Orchard Street. In this small shop, a few blocks away from the bustle of the Williamsburg Bridge, Nikki Fontanella, the creator of The Dressing Room, has managed to split the store into two distinct destinations.
On one side, men and women can shop for clothing that they will not find in other places. The other side houses a full bar and movie screening area that makes it a great place to hang out on a Saturday night.
Head downstairs to the basement to find a workspace which includes several sewing machines and a cutting table for those designers that cannot afford to rent out a separate space. And a consignment area lets customers find bargains on slightly used clothing.
Along with co-owners Alexandra Adame and Paul Frazier, Fontanella has managed to turn the concept of the traditional cooperative into to a unique shopping experience. The Dressing Room is a shopping destination and a cool place for a first date.
Adame knows that “for a lot of emerging designers it’s really difficult to be picked up by boutiques and get a start in retail.”
For some the way into the lucrative world of fashion is through education. Going to the right school and landing the right internship can be the way to go but joining a fashion co-op is another route to take allowing young designers to sell their wares along side other unknown designers.
This arrangement lets independent designers earn some money and possibly be discovered by someone who could launch their careers by featuring them in a magazine or news story.
VIDEO: A PLACE FOR FASHION AND FUN
But Adame notes “it’s really difficult to get placed in stores” and a fashion designer with limited contacts can really benefit from a store like The Dressing Room Boutique and Bar.
The vision for this cooperative for fashion and jewelry designers was one where independent designers, artists, and people from the community could come together to collaborate on ideas. Adame wanted “a community feel.”
It is a place to make business, network, and hang out with other creative types.
One of these types is Alisha Trimble, a name most of us don’t know, yet. She found her way to The Dressing Room by accident.
On afternoon after having lunch in the Lower East Side, Trimble “went into a couple of shops and (she) was fortunate enough to meet the owner” and “joined that same week.”
Trimble is a self-taught fashion designer of what she calls contemporary couture. She did not go to a fashion school or work under another designer. In a span of two years she learned to sew and to make patterns with the aid of books borrowed from the library.
Trimble’s ambitions are high. While she has been at The Dressing Room for over a year she has no plans to move on but said she is hoping “to be the most photographed designer in the U.S. by 2010.”
Many designers have discovered The Dressing Room through word of mouth or by looking online. Like Trimble many designers are “walk ins” off the street. Adame said they are “always looking for a balance” in terms of the type of fashion that is just right for the boutique.
On average, The Dressing Room receives about 50 requests a month from designers looking to present their lines. Depending on how much room is available in the shop usually only one or two designers are chosen every month or so.
Adame, who also manages the day to day management of the store, is always willing to look at a new designers’ line but that “there are not always spots available.”
But a designer will be kept on a waiting list until there is space in the store.
The designers are signed up for four month contracts that are renewable. They not only provide the clothes that are sold in the store but also are required to work in the shop selling their own merchandise.
One may never meet Ralph Lauren in person but at The Dressing Room, Trimble and other showcased designers are there to greet you at least twice a month. They are there to help with selecting an outfit and most can customize an article of clothing so it fits just right.
On Sunday nights movies can be viewed on a large screen in the back of the store. While watching black and white classics or karate flicks from the 1970s the bar and a drink is only a few steps from cute dresses and one of a kind jewelry.
New York City has some of the best shopping in the world. One can shop as early as 6 a.m. till after midnight in some spots. In this city the shopping experience is as diverse as its residents.
Tiny boutiques no bigger than a large closet line city neighborhoods while there are department stores that take up an entire city block. Among a number of cooperatives and consignment stores throughout the city The Dressing Room Boutique and Bar manages to stand out even among other co-ops.
While The Dressing Room has only been open since July 2007, Adame said she “would like to see us expand” into other parts of the city and maybe even westward to California.
She doesn’t just see growth for the store but said about the designers that she “would like to see them grow their businesses.”
Adame sees this tiny shop “as a steppingstone or platform for them (the designers) and said that the boutique has“ a great bunch of designers and (is) so happy with the way things have turned out, everyone gets along really well.”